Hitch assemblies for evenly distributing the tongue weight of a trailer over the front and rear wheels of a towing vehicle are well known in the art. Present state of the art designs for round bar weight distributing hitch assemblies include a hitch bar, for mounting in the receiver box of a hitch receiver connected to the vehicle, and a ball mount head. The ball mount head is fabricated from parallel top and bottom plates welded to a yoke for receiving the mounting rack of the hitch bar. Two tubes are welded between the top and bottom plates. Holes are provided in the tubes for spring loaded pins adapted to retain the round spring bars in position. The angular adjustment of the ball mount head is made by stacking washers on a locating pin between the ball mount head and the hitch bar mounting rack. Reese Products, Inc., product numbers 61200, 61202 and 61204 are representative of weight distributing hitch assemblies of the type just described.
While such a weight distributing hitch assembly is effective in evenly distributing weight between the front and rear wheels of a towing vehicle, installation and adjustment of the hitch assembly is presently somewhat time consuming and inconvenient. Specifically, the adjustment of this prior art design requires that the spring bars and associated hardware be removed and that washers be added or removed from the locating pin. The spring bars and hardware must then be reinstalled.
It should also be appreciated that in prior art designs the spring bar retainer pins are held in place by a flat spring. This flat spring may become overstressed with repeated removal and reinstallation of the spring bars. Further, when bent, the flat spring must be replaced. As the flat spring is fastened in place with a drive screw, the screw must be pried or drilled out to replace the spring. Again, this represents a significant inconvenience and an added repair expense to the operator.
Accordingly, a need is identified for a weight distributing hitch assembly of improved design that is more convenient to adjust and install and that secures the spring bars in position with greater reliability over a longer service life.